Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to communications networks and more particularly to providing common user interface perspectives to multiple end devices of potentially diverse types.
Today it is very common, and probably the norm, for an individual to have and regularly use a number of communications devices of different types that communicate via a variety of different media. For example, an individual may, on a daily basis, use a number of different telephones such as a work line, a home line, one or more cell phones, etc. Additionally, this same individual may have and use a number of other communication devices and/or media such as one or more email accounts, one or more instant message accounts, etc. that are accessible through any of a number of different devices such as personal computers various portable devices, and/or other network attached devices that communicate via the Internet or other network.
While the availability of these devices helps people stay in touch and communicate, it can present problems. For one, each device has its own settings and/or user defined preferences. However, an individual using a number of communication devices may have some user preference settings that he wants to set on all of his devices. For example, a user may wish to view available data in a common manner, i.e., view a common perspective, between multiple devices. That is, a user may like to view his emails or other communications in a particular arrangement, such as arranged chronologically by the time they were received, by senders name, by subject, by content, or by some combination of these or other criteria. Furthermore, the user may wish this view to be common throughout the various devices he may use to view such data. For example, the user may want a particular perspective on his communications to be applied not only to his PC or browser, but also to his cell phone, PDA, or other device(s) when using those devices to view the same information or same type of information.
Currently, there is no way for a user of multiple end devices of different types to share or set perspectives that are common to all or some subset of all of these devices. Rather, the user is left with the tedious and time consuming task of setting these perspectives individually in each device. Compounding this problem is the fact that some devices have user interfaces that are less friendly than others. For example, a user's cell phone may provide a user interface that is effective for making telephone calls but this interface is not easy to use for most other purposes. However, a PC's interface is generally very user friendly and effective for performing a wide variety of tasks. Therefore a user may prefer to use his PC to set one or more perspectives for viewing information. However, there is currently no way for the user to then apply these perspectives to another device such as his cell phone or PDA. Hence, there is a need for methods and systems that allow for common perspectives across multiple devices of potentially diverse types.